Mobile device users expect and demand that mobile platforms allow for ever-increasing involvement in communication activities. Mobile platforms, therefore, offer ubiquitous network connectivity through one or more communication devices to provide mobile device users with significant communications capabilities. Mobile platform communication needs are further increased as some mobile platform activities move into the cloud. For example, as data storage activities and content retrieval activities are increasingly moved into the cloud, network communications between the mobile platform and servers within the cloud are correspondingly increased.
While a communication interface device may consume a relatively small portion of a mobile platform's power, the impact of communication activities on overall platform power requirements may nevertheless be significant because, in conventional systems, the whole platform, including for example processors, memory, and buses, is kept active to process network packets.
Further, because it may not be possible to ascertain in advance when network packets will arrive, the whole platform may need to remain active for extended periods even in the absence of network traffic. If network packets are not handled within an amount of time expected by the sending application, the sending application may fail or return errors, and the user experience may be degraded. Therefore, due to the non-deterministic nature of communications activities, conventional mobile platform elements may remain in a constant state of readiness to process network packets. This may lead to elevated power consumption for the overall mobile platform.